The Forgotten War

I’ve read a number of references lately to the so called “endless war” started of course by the Evil Booooosh.

But everybody forgets the real Long War.  Namely, the Cold War.

The Cold War lasted 51 years from 1948 to the collapse of the Warsaw Pact in 1989.  Don’t try to tell me that it wasn’t a “real war”, or as Whoopi Goldberg would say, a “war-war”.  I interacted with many veterans of that war.  If you were in the Strategic Air Command (I sat next to a retired LtCol for months who was in bombers and spent time in a missile silo.  And a lot of the discussion focused on friends of his  who died on active duty) or in a boomer (nuclear missile sub), you were at war.  And lots of people died fighting it not even counting the Cold War flash points in Viet Nam and Korea.  Thousands have died at the demilitarized zone at the Korean 38th parallel since the so called ‘armistice’ was signed.

Somebody needs to calculate the costs and human toll of the Cold War (assuming somebody hasn’t done it already)

499th post

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That’s the lonely echo.  I may have to rename the site Wilson.

Careful what you wish for, Your Honor

Went through a thought experiment a few days back about judicial activism and the emasculation of the US Constitution by the courts.

Where do judges get their authority?  It’s not from standing armies, staffs of meddling bureaucrats or, despite the best efforts of the labor mafias in Wisconsin, gangs of street thugs.  Judges get their authority from the Constitution which defines their relationship within the government.  If there were no Constitution, where would judges get their authority?  Answer is from any thug who has a standing personal army, staffs of meddling bureaucrats or gangs of street thugs.  In short, without a standing Constitution, judges and the courts essentially become powerless except as mouthpieces justifying the abuses of the thugs who have actual power.  This is where judicial activism takes us.  When the Constitution is anything people in power want it to be, then there is no constitution.  And if there is no Constitution, there is no reason for the courts to interpret it.  When law is Their Will, whoever They of the Political Overlord Class are, there is no need for judges to ensure fairness.

The end state of Judicial Activism is no judiciary at all.

About that War Powers thing

Obambi makes the case that the War Powers Act doesn’t apply to his little excellent adventure in Libya because there are no U.S. forces in harms way…

People like to make all this constitutional stuff sound complex and arcane.  It’s actually not.  I have a copy of the U.S. Constitution on my cell phone (there’s an app for that…the Declaration of Independence, too).  I have read the War Powers Act and because it was part of the subject the Authorizations For Use of Military Force in Afghanistan and Iraq.  This stuff really isn’t that hard.

Somebody needs to point out to the the former Constitutional Law Professor (who forever acts like he’s never actually seen the document) that the Constitution doesn’t define War as putting U.S. forces in harm’s way.  It’s really about the power to arbitrarilly kill people, ‘cuz otherwise his power is limited by little things like the Fourth Amendment and due process and such.

So here’s the way it works Skippy.  You are engaged in hostilities in Libya.  You are throwing missiles at people and if you don’t think that is hostile, ask the people at the receiving end.

Hmmm…  Anybody ever notice Obama’s propensity for claiming the power to sentence people to death by executive fiat?

Modern Western Scientific Process

1.  Start with the conclusion.

Science, like all other subjects are much easier if you know the answer before getting the question.

2. Build a case supporting the desired conclusion.

Sort through all evidence, real or imagined, keeping anything that supports the conclusion and discrediting what doesn’t.

3. Be prepared to demonize skeptics.

Because science is all about thinking.  The sky is chartreuse if the consensus believes it.  It’s just your lying eyes that makes it seem blue.

4. Make your conclusion involve the End Of The World As We Know It.

Or why bother.

5.  Go to the press with half baked unsupported conclusions.

Because its all about the publicity.  Peer reviews are unnecessary.  Peers are people who already agree with you.  Anybody who would disagree is a skeptical demon, anyway.

6.  Push the conclusion as a political movement.

No better way to separate empty headed politicians from taxpayers’ money.

7.  Wrap the conclusion in all the trappings of religion.

Best way to demonize skeptics is to make them heretics.  Also, religions have an air of permanence about them that ensure that the largess from the government flows and flows forever.

Welcome to the Church of Global Warming Climate Change Next Ice Age.

The modern western scientific process is an example of the politicization of everything.  It’s not what real scientists do.  It’s what lawyers do to support an indefensible client.  It’s why so called “Progressivism” will always fail.  So called “Progressivism” is all about scientific management of society.  But the so called “Progressives” can’t keep the politics out of the science, so the whole management structure eventually collapses.

Weiner going limp

Might pull out today bringing a premature climax to the whole sordid affair

Weiner, poster child for why government can’t be trusted with power.

Just had to get that in before the circus leaves town.

Not the Party of Losers

The Party of Weiners.

Some campaign slogans just write themselves.

Allahpundit at Hot Air thinks the Democrats will save Weiner. Character is never an issue for a ‘Progressive’ after all. I say let them. Heck, encourage them to do so. Every republican campaign commercial in 2012 should include a picture of The Weiner in the corner. Since they didn’t fire him outright, then it is fair to say that every Democrat is a Weiner.

Update: Now it looks like he might be going. Not because it is the right thing to do, but because he has become a massive albatross of an embarrassment to the Party and the only thing that really matters is the Party’s insatiable quest for power.

(Yeah, I revised the opening. Original just didn’t have the right flow.)

RomneyCare is Mitt’s WienerGate

Conventional political wisdom is that having your name on anything is a good thing. Mitten’s might want to discuss that with the Right Honorable congresscritter from New York. That’s if he can can catch Tony between cybersextings.

Not the Party of NO

The Party of Nothing.

Responding to Hot Air’s Quotes of the Day (towards the bottom) about the Republicans and Democrats swapping positions as the Party of NO.  The Republicans were the Party of NO.  Their stand against the Democrat’s nation crushing agenda was a principled position taken by a minority against a the most irresponsible, incompetent majority eveh.

The Democrats are the Party of Nothing.  No principles.  No plans. No budgets.  No path forward.  No resolutions.  Nothing.  Nothing but their insatiable quest for their return to power and continuing their nation crushing agenda.